Look Who Stopped By

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Hi my name is Sybil. - No I'm Sybil! - No you can't be Sybil because I'm..

Ok enough of that.

The real news is..

I got a puppy!!!!!!!!!

She is a 12wk old Pit bull. I named her Bella because she is just B-E-A-U-tiful.

She's also a handful, but I'm loving it. And because I'm such a wonderful pet mommy I get up early and walk her every morning, so I'm getting more exercise than I have in months.

You want to see her don't you? I'd want to see her too, she really is just adorable. I mean she has these super bright green eyes and big ole floppy ears and.. oh heck why don't I just show you.

I mean seriously, have you ever seen anything more adorable?

I'd really been wanting a puppy for some time now, but wasn't keen on the whole potty training thing. I have all hardwood floors. That's a lot of possible puddles to step in ya know?

I've been browsing craigslist for the past few weeks and last Wednesday morning I checked the pet section and there she was! I emailed the lady and we arranged for me to go 'meet' Bella, who was Scarlett at the time, and see how I liked her.

It was love at first sight. She's so sweet, and loving and I just want to eat her up. So I loaded her and her gate, food bowl and toys in the car and home we went! She got a little excited in the car on the way home and piddled on her bed that was lying on the floor board, but thankfully it was pretty thick (the bed, not the pee) and didn't soak through to the carpet. Then when I got her home she had one more accident right when we got in the door but since then she's been fabulous about the pottying.

Oh did I mention she was already house trained? YAY! I bought some puppy pads and leave one in her pen during the day while I'm at work just in case but so far so good!

She's very smart and has already learned to sit on command. Before I put her leash on her to go for our walk or to go potty I tell her to sit and she does so well. We're working on stay now, but I think that will take a bit more time, she's very excited about the world around her and just can't wait to check things out.

I told myself I was going to be really strict about certain things, like bedtime and I had every intention of following through with that but.. I'm thinking Miss Bella may already have me wrapped around her little puppy paw.

She has a super thick duvet cover that's in the corner of my room for her bed. I even bought her a pillow because the first time she went in my room she jumped right up on my bed and laid her head on mine.

And at bedtime she did really good and went and laid on her bed and went to sleep. But she's one smart little girl. Around 2am I woke up and she's curled up behind me with her head on the pillow right next to mine. I put her back on the floor and sent her to her bed, but that didn't last long. As soon as I nodded off she's right back in the bed with me.

I know I could put her bed in the living room to try and discourage her, but I sleep with my door open so she'd just come back in there anyway. Besides, it's not like I have a hot man to share my bed with so I don't mind the company. And she's so sweet, she likes to cuddle and lay her head on my shoulder and it just makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Not to self - pets are nice but they are not to be used as a substitute for real male companionship. That is how the 'Crazy Cat Lady' came to be.

Speaking of male companionship, I've begun talking to a couple of fellas this week. Just chatting, nothing too progressive as of yet, but I'll keep you posted!

Blanco cat isn't too thrilled with the new housemate. He's taken up residence on top of the kitchen cabinets since Bella moved in, but I think with time they'll be come fast friends. Here he is making a fast run for his treat bowl after I put Bella in her pen.

They will get nose to nose and check each other out, then Bella wants to play and starts jumping around and Blanco high tales it to the cabinet top. It drives Bella crazy too, because she wants to play soooo bad and she can't jump up on the cabinet like the cat can so she'll sit in front of the cabinet and whine until she gets distracted by something else, then it's like kitty who?

It's almost 5 and I have some actual work to do before time to go so I'll wrap this up and leave you with some more pictures of my pretty girl. If you have a myspace you can check mine out, I have a whole folder of pictures of her!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

As a women I feel obligated to spread the word when I come across a truly magnificent product. I'm pretty picky so that doesn't happen often.

But today.. today ladies.. I bring you the unheard of... a product that actually gives the same results when used by us normal every day Janes as it does for the inhumanly gorgeous supermodels on the commercials.

I present to you, the miracle of all miracles, the wonder of all wonders..

I mascara that really truly does lengthen, thicken and separate your lashes!

Don't believe me? Yea, I didn't think you would.. so I took pictures.

I have very short, very thin, very are you serious.. what kind of excuse are those for lashes, lashes.

See.. no mascara equals no lashes. When my eyes are open, if I haven't gooped on fourteen coats of mascara you can barely even tell I have eyelashes. It's not much better when they're closed.

Now I preset to you - Maybelline Define a Lash Volume Mascara

Aren't my fingernails pretty?

I don't wear a lot of makeup, but what little I do wear is a must and it damn well better to do what it's intended to do. Some concealer for the under eye circles, some powder for the shine, lip gloss and mascara and I'm good to go.

So here are some pictures of the after - Look at those lashes ladies!!

Now a side by side comparison.

The first one is a really bad picture - something about angle or eh I don't know, but the point is look - can you see my eyelashes? Nope. Me neither.

But look at the second one.. Long luscious lashes woohoo! The eyelashes on my left eye have always been a little more sparse than the right ones but even those look longer and fuller.

The wand is unlike any I've ever seen. It's rubber, with little prickly spike thingies on it. I know that doesn't exactly sound like something you'd want to rub across your eyelid but it's actually really soft and comfortable.

No little microfiber brushes or plastic hair-like things getting gooped up and clogged when the the plastic doohickey inside the mascara tube stops scraping off the excess when you pull the wand out.

And it's shaped symmetrically so regardless of which hand you use or which angle you're applying it from your lashes get the same amount of mascara all the way across. The 'brush' part is really flexible too, so it curves with your lashes.

Monday, September 22, 2008

I hate to sound pessimistic, or be the voice of gloom but I feel like I should have known that the thing with PT was too good to be true.

It seems however, that while I'm all facts, figures and logic in most every aspect of my life, there is still that tiny little piece connected to love that is the eternal optimist, the hopeless romantic.

It wasn't that he's not a good guy. He really is and I don't think badly of him. I truly wish him happiness and success in whatever he pursues.

It wasn't that we didn't have amazing chemistry. We did. Boy oh boy did we. Like hot molten I want to just eat your face chemistry.

What it was, was a combination of lousy timing, previous relationship baggage (on both our parts) and an age gap that, although I really wanted to not matter, led to a difference in understanding and a slight break down when it came to communication.

Long story short -

Me previous relationship left me with quite a bit of emotional damage, and while I've mostly worked through it all, there are apparently still some issues with doubt and being insecure about my ability to be liked and/or loved simply for the woman I am.

His previous relationship seems to have never quite gotten to the relationship stage. The whole 'I don't know where my life is going so I can't bring you along yet' story. And it seems that in the midst of talking about us and where our relationship was and wasn't going he realized that he'd still been holding on to the hope that his almost girl would decide she wanted him to be a part of her journey.

I want a serious relationship. I've been taking care of myself for many years and am ready to give up or at least share that responsibility with someone I love. I'm ready to date one person exclusively, fall in love, get married, have a family.. the whole shebang.

He is still trying to figure out what he wants to be 'when he grows up.' He wants to finish school and be settled so that when he does meet someone he'll be emotionally, and financially in a position to properly care for her. Very honorable if somewhat naive and unrealistic. I mean do any of us every really know what we want to be when we grow up, or heck even really ever grow up for that matter.

Some things in life just don't follow a plan. Love is one of them.

Being an OCD freak about organization and planning, I can completely relate and understand PT's need to 'have all of his ducks in a row' so to speak. But being quite a few years older than PT, I also have the life experience to know that it's most often in the middle of your planning that the best things in life show up, and if you can't stop planning long enough to see them and allow them to come into your life then you'll miss them altogether.

Then there's the issue of hormones.

No, not mine. I may be female but I'm pretty in control when it comes to the mood swings. The hormonal issue was from his side. The issue being, while he understood that being physical with someone was something that was only acceptable in a relationship for me, and that anything more than kissing was going to have to be restricted unless he decided he wanted our seeing each other to progress into something more serious, he seemed unable to bust out enough discipline to make sure his actions matched up with his words.

Words - I like you, I want to get to know you, I understand that a physical relationship means something serious to you and I don't want to go there yet.

Actions - I want to make out with you, I want to make out with you, I know making out means something to you and doing so will make you think I want more but I can't seem to stop myself, so I want to make out with you anyway.

See where this is going?

I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and she said the problem is that men can do the physical without the emotional better than women. For the most part I agree with that, but the difference here is that I very clearly expressed to PT that at this point in my life - physical = serious, so if he really just wanted to 'hang out and get to know each other', he was going to have to put a leash on it.

But he didn't and I, being the dating novice that I am, took that to mean that he'd decided to just let go of his self-imposed 'no serious relationship' restrictions and let things happen and see where they would go. It never occurred to me that he still only wanted to be friends, but was too horny to get himself under control. Apparently I still have a LOT to learn about this stiff, er stuff.

So we've decided that we need to go our separate ways. I really wish we could be friends. He's smart and funny and we really do have great conversations, but we can't seem to be in each other's company for more than twenty minutes without wanting to tongue each other down. And while I'd love to pursue this and see if maybe it could evolve into more than a friendship, I'm not willing to be the 'friend' who he also happens to make out with, and he's not willing to let go of his thing for this girl to see what might transpire.

How ironic is it that the day I decide to post about the dismal end of the first almost relationship I’ve had in 5 years, I also hop on over to PayPerPost to see if they have any new opportunities and the first one that pops up is for a lesbian dating site.

I’ve not hidden the fact that I am by society’s standards a ‘bisexual’ woman. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have an intense dislike for labels, preferring to simply say that I have the ability to see beauty in any form, but since we’re not happy unless we can cram something in a box I suppose I’ll have to deal with being considered ‘bisexual’.

I’m really not looking for a woman at this particular juncture in my life but if I were I now know I have a place I can go to look for some sexy single Florida Lesbians.Or ones from Alabama for that matter.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

I've been giving a lot of thought about how to proceed with the documentation of whatever is progressing between PT, the fantastic fella I went out with Saturday, and myself and I have to admit I'm at a bit of an impasse.

There is most definitely a seriously intense connection between PT and I and not just in a physical way. Although that particular connection is just ridiculously HOT.

In just the several hours we spent together Saturday and talking and texting since we've discovered so many things we have in common. We have similar views on life, love, religion, politics and more.

Not saying we see eye to eye on every topic we've discussed but one thing we definitely agree on, and which I think is so very important, is the belief that we can all have different views and or opinions but still respect each other.

We both believe that there is no topic that is unacceptable or too taboo for discussion, and we both are open minded enough to listen to one another and regardless of whether we agree or not, still respect each other's point of view.

That being said there are other factors that happen to be present that seem to be making the "progression" of our interest in each other a delicate and possibly tangled web to be wove.

So I'm not sure how much to talk about, or not talk about. I have no doubt it's going to go somewhere, but exactly where it's going or how it will get there is something I'm completely unsure of.

One positive thing I can say about PT, ok so it's like the 8th or 9th positive thing I've said, is that he's the most open guy I've ever met. By that I mean open to direct and honest conversation. He understands that I need to know what's going on, what he wants, what his intentions are and doesn't mind telling me, and he doesn't mind listening to those same things from me as well.

He dislikes the "game" of dating as much as I do and is completely comfortable laying it all out on the table, so to speak. I mean how often does a first date conversation get to the point of "Ok this is what I'm looking for, this is what you're looking for, this is what I'm not looking for, this is what you're not looking for.. now how do we match what matches and work around what doesn't?" and neither person get freaked out or overwhelmed or scared away?

Heck, maybe it happens all the time and I'm really just so out of the loop that I didn't know guys were capable and willing to really "talk" these days. But I'm thinking more than likely I just got really lucky.. or I prefer to think blessed that this particular fella found me when he did.

So don't despair my fine friends.. I will blog more, and I will share more, and I'm sure it will be soon... but as for now what, when and how much sharing is to be done will remain a mystery not only to you.. but to myself as well.

Monday, September 15, 2008

A few weeks ago a guy messaged me on OKCupid. He was cute, funny, but young(ish) so I didn't really put any serious interest into his communication.

We ended up chatting on Yahoo messenger and against my better judgment, when he asked me out on Friday I said yes.

Remind me to not listen to my better judgment more often. It is completely clueless.

Well after a bunch of spastic texts trying to figure out what we were going to do (me being the spaz) we decided to go to the park, hang out for a while then go to dinner.

Municipal park here in Mobile is really nice. It surrounds a small body of water that I suppose you'd call a lake, or large pond, so the plan was to just sit out near the water and get to know each other.

Here's a pic of the park from the City of Mobile website.

The original plan was that PT, I guess I need to give him a name, and he drives a PT Cruiser so I suppose that will work, anyway, PT was supposed to pick me up at 5pm, we'd hang at the park or a couple hours then go to dinner at 7pm.

Well by 3:15, I'm ready, apparently he's ready and we're both just waiting for 5 o'clock to roll around. He texts me and asks what I'm doing, I say nothing, just waiting, what is he doing, he replies the same. So I say that if he'd like he can go ahead and come get me and we'll just go out early.

I want to say here that this was the first date I'd been on in over 8 years. I was in a relationship from 2000-2003 and I just really hadn't felt mentally or emotionally ready to meet someone between then and now.

So as I'm standing outside waiting for him to get there I text him "I feel like I'm going to throw up. Tell me again why I have no reason to be nervous".

I know.. nice huh? It's a wonder he didn't turn the car around right then and go back home. But he didn't. He's pretty terrific that way. :-)

He pulls up, and I don't even give the poor guy a chance to show me the gentleman he is, I just run walk quickly to the car and get in. On the way to the park conversation was light and comfortable.

We get to the park and decide to sit on a platform that's right at the edge of the water. While we're walking to the platform we hear music. Turns out there was a band playing in the pavilion that day.

We didn't go up close enough to really see, but from the sound of the singer it was an old black man and a younger lady, and they were singing old gospel and blues songs. And since both PT and I have a very strong love of God there really couldn't have been a more perfect backdrop.

The weather couldn't have behaved any better either. Sunny, but cool, with a really nice breeze that would come and go.

So we're sitting on the platform, looking out over the water, watching ducks wander around the park, listening to old gospel and blues in the background, talking about this and that and it starts to sprinkle. Just a very light mist, not enough to get you wet but enough to feel cool when the sun started getting warm.

I like to think what happened next was pure serendipity. I've never been kissed in the rain. Sad I know. Well as I'm sitting there thinking, he's really cute, and we really seem to click, and we have so much in common, and I've never been kissed in the rain, and this would so be the perfect moment if he just leaned over, he says, "You know something I've never done?".

"What's that?" I ask.

He looks at me and says, "I've never kissed in the rain."

I'm grinning like an idiot right now typing this lol - some times life really really is good.

So I say, "Really?, Neither have I."

I'm thinking to myself. Ok this is the moment.. he's going to lean over and kiss me and it will be perfect!

Nope.

So we're sitting there.. just sitting.. silence.. sitting.. FINALLY!!

And it was the sweetest moment ever. Then he says.. "oops.. it stopped raining"

We laugh and kiss again.

We ended up sitting there chatting for almost 4 hours, and not once was there an awkward or stilted or uncomfortable moment the entire time.

Shortly before 7pm we left the park to go to dinner at a little sushi place. I've never had sushi and really wasn't sure I'd like it, but I'll try almost anything once so I decided what the heck.

I have to be honest, it was pretty darn good. We had smoked salmon, and California rolls and some little dumpling looking things. Oh yea and the whole using ginger to cleanse your palate with thing? Genius! Warning - if you've never eaten raw ginger, it's got a hella bite to it. But once you're done chewing the taste is gone and it really does leave your taste buds clean for the next bite.

The restaurant was short staffed that night so between chatting and waiting and eating, dinner lasted close to two hours, but again, just complete comfort. Like meeting an old friend for the first time, if that makes any sense.

After dinner we decided to go back to the park. We stopped by my apartment to pick up a blanket and when we got to the park we laid it out on the grass and, are you ready for this, it's so sweet I almost can't type it... we spent the next hour talking and lying under the stars. OK so we only talked some.. and made out a little more than some, but it was really the absolute perfect ending to an absolutely perfect date.

After we were uh kindly instructed by the local PD that the park closes after dark, well there wasn't a sign!!, he drove me home. When he pulled up at my apartment he turned off the car, which I thought was odd, so I asked if he was going to come in.

A gentleman to the end.. He said no, but that he was going to walk me to the door. I know how sweet.

So as perfect as this all was, you may be wondering why I titled this the Very Best First Last Date Ever...

I think I'll save that for the next post, so make sure to stick around to find out :)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

My mother is fond of telling me that if I'd just stuck with band I could have gotten a full ride to college.

She's probably right.

Yes I was a band nerd. Only not so much of the nerd part.

I played Alto Sax, Tenor Sax and Oboe. Depending on which season it was, concert or marching.

But I was, er still am, a bit of a perfectionist, and the first ime I made 2nd chair during try outs instead of 1st I got a bit angry. It didn't matter that I was a Freshman and 1st chair was a Senior, someone with 3 years more experience than me. Being in band eventually became more of a frustration than a joy so I quit my Junior year.

Ok to be more accurate I wasn't allowed to quit, by either my mom or the band directors, so I started skipping practice so they would kick me out.

I know.. I'm such a rebel... Grr!!

Not sure what the point of sharing that with you was, except that talking about scholarships brought it to mind.

So moving on with today's topic.

Free money!!!

For school that is.

I didn't pursue any opportunities for scholarships my first go around in college, but this time I'm older, more educated and more broke, so I'm researching all avenues and options for financial assistance.

One of the scholarship competitions I found was from the Ayn Rand Institute. You read this book, Atlas Shrugged, then write an essay on one of 3 questions. Typewritten, double spaced and between 800 and 1600 words in length.

Sounds easy right?

Check out the book.

According to what I was able to dig up on the web it supposedly only weighs 3.3lbs. I call BS. I could stop my car from rolling down hill with this thing! It's 2 inches thick, 1168 pages long. And we're not talking large print either

It's not that I have a problem with reading books this big. I read the unabridged uncut version of Steven King's The Stand for crying out loud. That book is big enough to use as a bench.

No it's not the size of the book that's the issue. It's that I only have 6 days to read it in. I just read about the contest on Sunday, and checked the book out of the library yesterday. The deadline is Sept 17th. Today is the 11th. So that means I need to read about 195 pages a day, then write an essay that's well written and intriguing enough to win me a scholarship.

Normally I wouldn't be totally freaked out and overwhelmed at the impossibility of the task at hand. I mean I read fairly quickly. I can easily read a 200-300 page romance novel in the few hours from the time I get home from work till I go to bed.

The problem with doing that for the next 6 days is that I work my second job on at least 3 of them. Which means no time to read at all for 2 complete days and half of a 3rd. So I'm down to 3 and a half days to read this door stop and write an intelligent, thought provoking paper on it.

GAHHHHH!!!!!!!!

It's OK.. I CAN do this.. Take a deep breath.. breathe innnnn... and outtttt.

Remind me to start looking at scholarships for NEXT year as soon as I finish this dang book!

On another note - I just found out that Atlas Shrugged is the next movie that Angelina Jolie is going to be in so I'm stoked to read the book now!

New Orleans recently wrapped up it's 5th annual Great American Seafood Cook Off.

As one of the nation’s most prestigious culinary events, the Great American Seafood Cook-Off seeks out top-level chefs from across the country to compete and prepare seafood dishes using sustainable and domestic seafood, showcasing the best culinary products from their state.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal issued a challenge to the governors of all 50 states to send their most prized chef to compete in the cook-off.

They're also having a contest for us less than savy super chefs. You visit the website and vote for your favorite recipe using domestic, sustainable seafood and enter to win a "Trip to New Orleans" prize package including two Southwest Airline roundtrip tickets, hotel accommodations, dining experiences and more.

The top 5 finalists are from Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. You'd think that being from MS, that's the chef I'd vote for, regardless of the dish, but it didn't quite work out that way.

I'm not particularly fond of fish. Now I enjoy a good Mahi Mahi every now and then, but my seafood preferences lean more toward crab and shrimp. But it's not because his recipe is a fish dish that I didn't vote for the MS chef. It's because the likelyhood of me (or any average cook) being able to pull it off in the standard home kitchen was slim to none!

My pick was the Shrimp and Andouille Cassoulet by Louisiana chef Brian Landry. He's kind of cute too! But of course that had no influence on my decision whatsoever. No ma'am. Not only does his dish look absolutely DELISH.. the recipe is something I could actually follow and possibly pull off! The only thing I'd change is using a veggie sausage substitute. Oh and probably half the amount of creole seasoning. I'm such a sissy when it comes to spicy foods.

The more I look at the picture and recipe the more I'm thinking I may actually try it. Although I normally buy my shrimp pre-cooked and bagged at the grocery store, I pass half a dozen fresh seafood places around town on a regular basis so I might have to support the local fishermen and pick me up a few pounds of fresh smelly raw shrimp and actually follow the directions on a recipe for once.

Friday, September 05, 2008

It's taken ten (10) years but I'm finally going back to school to finish up my degree. I really should probably say start my degree rather than finish it. I mean I did go to college before, but I only took 4 classes and had no idea what I wanted to major in at the time.

I'm still not 100% sure that I know what I want to be when I grow up, but whatever it is, I'll be doing it with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration.

Where am I going? Virginia College. Online.

I applied at the University of Mobile a few months ago and was accepted but then I started a part time job, on top of my full time job and realized that there was just really no way that I could work two jobs and go to school full time if I had to physically walk onto a campus and sit in a classroom for 2-4 hours each class.

Taking online courses is much more flexible and yes you receive an actual valid accredited degree. No cracker jack diploma for me.

I'd tell you all about how it worked but I haven't actually started classes yet. I am registered though and should be receiving my books in a couple of weeks. Classes start October 6th.

From what I can gather though, you sign on to each class a minimum of twice a week. You check in, get your assignment, check the forum and discussion boards and you're done. With the class part anyway. Then you have to do the actual assignment (yay homework!) and e-mail it to your professor.

For my first semester I'm taking Learning Framework (have no idea what it is, but it's a required 1st semester course), Intro to Business and Intro to Spanish I.

I'm also re-acquiring a new butt load of student loan debt, after taking only about 8 years to pay off the student loan from my previous college classes. My first go around with school I didn't look into or apply for any scholarships though, but I've learned my lesson about that and am going to be an essay writing fool for the next few weeks applying for any and every scholarship I can qualify for.

I'll be updating as classes progress, probably complaining about homework, and the general uselessness of some of the stuff I'll be learning. Sounds like high school

t I'm really excited. I've been wanting to go back to school for several years now and am super stoked that I'm finally able to.

Lately I've been blogging here and there about the ins and outs of online dating.

Ok I've blogged about not having the first clue how to date and I've had other people post about how it's actually done, but today I'm going to talk about what it takes to meet and attract a date in person.

I know right, I'm just the person to talk about this, what with all the maddening success I've had. Anyway.

According toExtreme Style by VO5, hair is a big part of catching someone's attention. Not just any hair though, oh no, to snag the man of your dreams you need Victory Hair.

Definition of 'Victory Hair' courtesy of VO5: "The messy state of an attractive person's hair after he/she has engaged in 'freaky activities'.

Sounds to me that Victory Hair comes AFTER some successfully flirting with the man of your dreams. Oh! And you need to know how to flirt. Damn, I knew I was doomed! Ha, moving on.

It might not look like it now, thank you imcompetant boob of a hair stylist, but good hair is something I know a thing or two about. I've always had great hair. And great hair seems to go a long way in helping with "the look". Who comes up with this stuff?

What is "the look" you ask?

You know, when you see someone you think is hot, and you want to get their attention to let them know that you think they're hot, you give them "the look".

I had to do a bit of digging but I finally found a pic where I think I might be giving "the look". It's from a photo shoot I did back in 2004, so try to look past the faux fur and candy cane.

Yes the candy cane was real and it was very very sticky. Moving on.

So that's my version of "the look". It basically says "Hey, I was noticing you, and I noticed that you noticed me noticing you, so I'm going to give you a look that says I want you to notice me back". Got it? Good.

I never claimed to be any good at flirting but I feel fairly confident that I could manage to pull off the look if I tried hard enough. Now if I could just run into a guy that would notice that I wanted him to notice me noticing him.

VO5 has this hilarious little online game you can play called 'The Ultimate Flirting Championship'. While you're waiting to play the game check out the Flirting Tips. Here's a few I thought were cute.

#29 - Be yourself. Just don't do that weird thing that you do (you know what we're talking about)

#87 - If you can't dance take your date to a monster truck show

#42 - Be creative with your responses. When in doubt pretend you speak something exotic. Like Icelandic

Gah! Where have these tips been all my life?! If I'd only known.. I'd have never been single so long!

Monday, September 01, 2008

Sunday afternoon while walking back to my apartment from a gas station less than 3 blocks away, my mom was mugged.

It was a nice sunny day and she'd walked up to the store to get some change to do laundry. As she was walking back, minding her own business, admiring the beautiful old houses that line my street, a van pulled up and let a kid out, then pulled off. The kid, a black teenage male, walked in front of my mom then up the steps to a house and started chatting with a lady and two small children sitting on the porch.

My mom, not thinking anything out of the ordinary kept walking. A moment later she felt a tug on her shoulder. As she tried to make a startled grab for her purse, that same kid she'd just seen sitting on the steps of the house she walked by ran past her with her purse in his hands.

She yelled at him to stop, and kept an eye on the direction he was running, with the thought of possibly following him, but when he ran between two houses then behind one she thought better and came the last block and a half to my apartment.

I was sitting on the couch looking out the window, watching for her to return. As I saw her walking the last few feet up the sidewalk another van pulled up beside her and stopped.

It turns out a church van, carrying a youth group had witnessed the purse snatching. The driver told my mom that they'd wanted to catch the kid but were unable to tell which way he'd gone.

My mom explained that she'd JUST moved here to Mobile the night before, and had just walked up to the store to get change to do her laundry. Every penny she had was in her purse, along with family pictures and her social security card.

The driver pulled out two crumpled dollar bills. He said he wasn't able to catch the kid for her, but at least he could make sure she was able to get her clothes washed. Then as she thanked them and was getting ready to come back in he stopped her again. A youth from the van had given him another dollar to give her.

When she came in and told me what had happened I was furious. I have ZERO tolerance for delinquent brats who think they can do what they please to whomever and suffer no repercussions.

I grabbed my phone and my keys and told my mom to come on. She showed me the house where the kid had been before he snatched her purse. I pulled up in the driveway and the young girl was still sitting there.

I asked her if she knew the kid who had mugged my mom. She said, "Yea, that's my cousin. We was talking and he goes "Watch this!" then ran down and took her purse".

I told her that she might want to help me find him or she'd be watching this when the police pulled up to her house. She just stared at me then walked down the stairs around to the opposite side of the house.

Taking down the address and her description I called the police. As I was giving them an account of what happened another guy came walking from around the side of the house.

I call myself having pretty decent instincts, and I'm usually fairly comfortable following my gut feeling. Seeing that this guy had his hand hidden under the front of his shirt near the waistband of his pants led me to feel that I should get the hell out of that driveway before he got any closer to my car.

We drove a few houses down and parked in another driveway and I finished my report to the police. The officer told me to stay where I was, a unit would be there in a few minutes. Just as I was hanging up my phone a lady came walking by and said "I'm not in this and I don't know nothing, but he just ran up in the back of that yellow house". She didn't stop or offer any further information but just kept on walking by. Where we were parked was between a white and yellow house. To be so close and know I couldn't really do anything was aggravating to say the least.

As we were sitting there another guy came walking from the same house. He had the same hand under the shirt stance that the previous guy did so I quickly decided it was time to find another place to wait for the police. As I was pulling out of that driveway a police car pulled up and motioned for me to follow him a few houses down to a church parking lot. While my mom was recounting what had happened to the officer, 3 more police cars pulled up.

To say we were surprised at the level of police interest and response over a purse snatching would be grossly underestimating our reaction. While we were talking to the first office two of the cars left and apparently went back to the house to search for the kid and question any witnesses.

They came back a few minutes later, said they were unable to find anything and that the girl they questioned, the one from the porch, had apparently developed a massive case of amnesia and didn't have any idea who or what we were talking about.

After explaining that they would write up the report, pass on the information to a detective who would go back and re-question anyone available, the officer gave us a card with a case number on it and pulled off.

In spite of all that had just happened, my mom realized she would still need change to finish her laundry so I took her to another store to get change from the $3 the youth group in the van had given her.

We'd just gotten back to the apartment and were mulling over what had happened when someone knocked on my apartment door.

The area I live in is not a bad area. I'm surrounded by beautiful historic mansions on the corner of two very busy streets on the edge of downtown Mobile. It was just bad luck and timing that my mom happened to be walking past the house where a rotten good for nothing brat happened to be visiting his cousin and decided she'd make an easy prey.

However, the niceness of my neighborhood didn't stop either of us from jumping when we heard the knock on the door. My apartment building is only two blocks from where that kid was visiting. Only two blocks from where not one, but two less than friendly looking black males came from around the back of that same house holding their hands under the front of their shirts.

I tiptoed up to the door and looked out of the peep hole. It was no small sigh of relief I breathed when I saw that it was 2 of the officers we'd spoken to less than half an hour before.

They'd gone back to the house where my mom and the witness said the kid had ran to and they'd found my mom's purse and wallet strewn among some bushes at the back of the house.

While we were extremely grateful they'd gone back and searched for the kid, and were happy that my mom's purse had been recovered, we couldn't help but feel some defeat that it was returned completely empty.

Her social security card, family pictures and every single penny she had were in that purse and now all of it was gone.

So now my mom is completely without any funds and can't even look for a job until she is able to replace her social security card. You have to have a certified copy of your birth certificate to apply for a ss card, and she didn't have one, so I've had to order one for her online and she should have it by the end of the week.

But she came over here without a car, planning to use the public transit system to find a new job and get around town, so now even once she gets her birth cert, and assuming my boss lets me off work to take her to apply for a replacement ss card, she has no money for the bus.

My mom had been living with my sister in Mississippi, but thanks to a freak bedbug invasion (thought to have been brought over from one of the children my sister watches) they've been run out of their house. My sister and her family have been staying at our dad's, and my mom has been couch surfing with various family members here and there for weeks.

The situation had begun wearing on her and there was no better solution in immediate sight, so I asked her to come live with me, hoping she could get a new start. A new beginning in a new place, with a new job, and new friends. And the first freaking day she's here she gets mugged.

I've walked those same two and a half blocks to that same store dozens of times and have never even seen anyone who gave me cause to fear for my safety, yet the very first time my mom walks that path she gets mugged.

I've never asked my readers for help before and if it were me that was in this situation I wouldn't be asking now, but my mom has nothing. And thanks to two crappy roommates in a row who've moved out with no notice right before rent was due, I'm in no position to offer her much more than a place to stay.

So if you could, if you would, please click on the picture of my kitty at the top left of my blog. It will take you to a paypal account where you can donate as little or as much as you choose.

She's a really good woman, who's been through a lot and deserves more from life than what she's been dealt the past several years. And she definitely deserves to be able to make a new start on life. Unfortunately some piece of crap punk kid has just made that very very difficult for her, so any help anyone can offer would be so greatly appreciated.

Thank you all, and I doubt they'll ever read it, but thank you again to the youth group who stopped and gave her the few dollars they had at the time.